


Interlude

by adamwhatareyouevendoing



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: First Kiss, Forehead Touching, M/M, just all of the soft gay tropes tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 23:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20665925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamwhatareyouevendoing/pseuds/adamwhatareyouevendoing
Summary: Thomas can be circumspect, he will be circumspect, just not tonight.An extension to Thomas and Richard's night-time walk back to Downton.





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emsypi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emsypi/gifts).

> I wanted to write something for them after seeing the movie on Friday, thanks Em for the inspiration!

Beyond the soft light of the courtyard the back door looms, a stark signal that the end of the evening is drawing near.

Adrenalin is still coursing through Thomas’s veins—lingering fear mixed with a heady rush of nervous excitement. He had not known before today that such things were possible, that men like him could find each other and find solace together, and despite everything, he does not wish to part with the sensation so soon.

He moves before he can consider the action, taking Richard’s gloved hand in his own and pulling them once more into the darkness. A soft noise of surprise huffs from the lips of his companion, but Richard offers no chastisement for his daring.

They stumble further into the shadows, coming up against the back wall of the boiler house.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas pants, sounding more breathless than he realised. He has still not released Richard’s hand, gripping it tightly to anchor himself in the moment. “I know you said I should be circumspect, and I can be, I _will_ be. Feels like I’ve spent all my life hiding.” His lips quirk without humour. “But right now, I just feel so _alive_.”

Richard’s eyes glint with a familiar spark, and suddenly the furnace roaring beside them is no match for the heat of the blood pounding in Thomas’s veins.

“Hush,” Richard murmurs, the word bringing to mind the brush of leather on his lips. “You don’t have to be guarded with me, love.”

Thomas’s breath hitches in his throat at the endearment, a wondrous warmth suffusing across his cheeks, and he cannot find it within himself to be embarrassed.

In his distraction, Richard’s free hand comes up between them to press him back against the stone—gently, not pinning him there, and Thomas goes willingly. His hat catches on the brick and tumbles from his head, but he pays it no mind, not when Richard seizes the chance to run his fingers through his hair, gloved at first. Thomas makes a small frustrated noise low in the back of his throat, and he can only watch, helpless, as Richard quirks a teasing eyebrow and then proceeds to tear the glove off with his teeth.

He repeats the motion slowly, deliberately, like a blessing bestowed on a repentant sinner, bare skin against Thomas’s hair, and Thomas cannot resist the temptation to lean into the touch.

“There,” Richard says quietly, his thumb soothing across the swell of Thomas’s cheek. His expression is as calm and composed as it had been during their conversation earlier, but there is a depth to his eyes that betrays him. Thomas has a distinct feeling that Richard is as affected by this as he himself is, only he is more practised at hiding it.

Thomas reaches up with his own free hand to return the touch, an echo against Richard’s skin, soft beneath his fingertips. The pad of his thumb finds the corner of Richard’s lips, unbidden, his shaky exhale cut off into a half-formed sigh as Richard surges forwards, tipping their foreheads together.

Thomas’s eyes drift closed, his hand settling at the nape of Richard’s neck, pressing in. Richard’s breath is warm against his lips.

They remain there, held close, two lingering statues cast in bronze, until Thomas murmurs a desperate plea into the space between their lips and Richard melts against him—finally, unbelievably, leaning in the rest of the way to press his lips to Thomas’s.

And Thomas kisses him back, tentatively at first, as though this too is something to be wary of, then in a furious desperate rush once it becomes clear that this is real and wanted, not just him and his shameful greedy longing taking yet another a misplaced leap and crashing to the ground.

Instead he is soaring, for the first time in his life, and the startled noise of relief he groans into Richard’s mouth to be muffled between them only causes Richard to press closer, fingers wound tight in his hair.

Their hands break contact at their sides, reaching out to clasp each other’s clothing instead. Richard’s makes it as far as Thomas’s lapel; Thomas only manages to tangle his into Richard’s shirt, fingers catching on the buttons above the waistband of his trousers.

“I never knew it could be like this,” Thomas gasps when they break apart for air, soft with wonder.

Richard smiles, and the sight is even more dazzling up close. “Just you wait,” he says, trailing a line of kisses up the column of Thomas’s neck to set his senses on fire, “there’s plenty more where that came from.”

Then he leans in again, nudging his nose against Thomas’s as he shifts to recapture his lips.

This kiss is filled with promise for the future, and, as Thomas wraps his arms around him, pulling their bodies flush together and holding him close, he finds for the first time that he is looking forward to experiencing that future.

**Author's Note:**

> And when they parted ways the next day, their goodbye kiss was sweet and lingering because Richard had the foresight to close the door and they weren't interrupted.


End file.
